Wrench.



I B. A. sooKING.

WRENGm APPLICATION FILED UNB 1, 1909.

Patented May 21, 1912.

. .c 2 Ic' C UA PLANDGRAPH CO ASHINUTDN 'l C jects contemplated are attained, as herein- BERT A. s-TocKiNG, or NEWTON, iowa.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented May v21, 1912.

Application led June 1, 1909. Serial No. 499,512.

quickly adjusted to any position within their range of movement and there firmly held, and the movable jaw moved slightly towardy the stationary jaw to fit the aws tightly against a n ut or other object to be grasped by the jaws.

More particularly, my object is to provide a wrench of this class in which the jaw tightening` device is of strong' and durable construction, and inwhich the jaws may be readily and easily adjusted to any position within their range of movement; and se` curely held in said adjustedy position.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the variousparts of the device whereby .the obafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a wrench embodyingy my invention with the handle portion and adjusting devices .in section. Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the handle portion of the wrench embodying my invention with part of the handle broken away to show the internal construction. Fig. 3 shows a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows a central, longitudinal, sectioal view of a wrench embodying my invention. ,l

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the outer jaw having a shank 11 connected with it, said shank being rectangular in cross section andy being provided on one side with screw-threads 12. These screw-threads are preferably pointed at one end at 13, asy indicated in Fig. 1, for purposes hereinafter made clear. Said screw-threaded portion extends from the rear end of the shank 11 to a point near the central portion of the shank. Fixed to the rear end of the shank 11 is a laterally projecting, limiting pin 15.

The numeral 16 indicates the inner jaw connected with a hollow shank rectangular opening therein to receive and slidingly Vsupport the shank 11. At the rear end of the hollow shank k17 is an annular rib 185 andthe top portion of thel shank 17 in the rear of the rib 18 iscut away, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Beyond said rib 18, toward the rear of the handle is an eX- tension 1,9 which is provided at its rear vend with a' shoulder 2O and a screw 21 projecting rearwardly beyond the shoulder. The shape of this rear extension 19 is clearly shown in Fig. 3'. A portion of it is of segf mental shape and is designed to t the interior of the hollow handle hereinafter described. The left side of it as viewed in the drawings is cut away at 22 throughout the entire length of the extension 19 and the right side ofit, near the top, is cut. away at 23 near the forward portion of said eXtension 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, for purposes hereinafter made clear.

The handle comprises a hollow, cylindrical body portion 24 designedL to inclose the extension 19 and to have its forward end rest against the shoulder 18. This handle is provided on its interior, near its forward end, with a number of screw-threads 25, which screw-tlireads are tapered at one end at 26, as clearly .shown ink Fig. 1, land are designed to co-act with the screw-threads 12. The handle is'held in position on the 17 hav-ing a' wrench by means of a washer 27 placedy y upon the rectangular portion Vofthe screw 21 to engage the rear end of the handle 24 and, bya nut'28 lscrewed .on the screw 21 the rib 18 and the washer 2,7 as said washer engagesthe shoulder 20 but is loose enough w to permit the handle to freely rotate.

In practical .operation and assuming that it is .desired to adjust the jaws relativeto each other, then they operator. grasps the shank 17 lof the wrench in oneghandV and with the other hand, grasps the handle 24 and turns it in a direction counter clockwise. This will bring the teeth25 ofthe handle into the recess 22 at the side of the eXtension 19 and outlof engagement with the teeth 12, whereupon the outer jaw may be freely moved longitudinally of the wrench. Assuming that the jaws are placed on opposite sides of a nut or other object, then vthe jaws are moved together until they closely engage said object and the handle 211- is turned in a clockwise direction so that the pointed ends 26 of the screw-threads 25 will engage with the pointed ends 13 of the screw-threads 12, and a further movement of the handle will cause the threads to firmly engage each other and will also cause the jaws to be moved toward each other a slight distance until the jaws firmly grasp the article between them. Then the wrench may be used in the ordinary manner.

Assuming that before the handle is moved to position for causing the threads to engage and assuming further that when in said position, the jaws tightly engage the object to be clamped, and also assuming that when the handle is turned to position for engaging the threads, the ends of the threads will strike each other and the handle can not be moved to position for causing the threads to firmly engage each other, then the operator moves the jaws apart far enough to permit the screw-threads on the handle to engage those on the shank one thread beyond the point first mentioned. Then, obviously, in order to cause the jaws to tightly engage the jaw, it will be nece-ssary to turn the handle a comparatively great distance. For this purpose, I have provided the recess 23 in the side of the eX tension 19 to permit the teeth 25 to move to the right far enough to bring the jaws tightly against the object to be clamped. In this connection, it is to be understood that the threads are so arranged and have such a degree of pitch that when the handle is turned from position where the threads first engage to position where the threads are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the jaws will be moved toward each other a distance of at least one thread space of the screw-threads, so that an adjustment of the jaws relative to each other may be made at any point throughout their entire range of movement. By this arrangement, it is obvious that the handle may be turned to one side and when so turned the jaws may move relative to each other freely and without danger of having the screw-threads engage each other. Then when the handle is turned in a clockwise direction, the threads will engage and they may be drawn up tightly enough to bring the jaws firmly against the object to be clamped. The length of the threads 25 is considerably greater than that of the threads 12 thereby permitting a large range of movement of the jaws relative to each other, and at the same time a device 1s provided 1n which the threads may be turned to one side and the aws may be freely moved. Furthermore, by the construction shown, the handle is firmly and securely held in position aga-inst longitudinal movement and the jaws are prevented from separating too far by means of the limiting pin 15 which will strike against the shoulder 18 when the jaws are separated to their limit.

I claim as my invention.

An improved wrench, comprising an outer j aw, a shank therefor having screw threads on one edge near the rear end thereof, said screw threads being pointed at one end, a second jaw, a hollow shank therefor to receive the shank of the outer jaw, said hollow shank being provided with an annular shoulder and with an extension in the rear of the annular shoulder, said rear extension being open at one side adjacent to the screw threaded edge of the first mentioned shank, and being provided with two recesses on opposite sides of the opening, said extension being also provided at its rear end with an angular extension, said angular extension being provided with screw threads at the rear end thereof, a hollow handle rotatably mounted on said rear extension to engage said shoulder and provided on its interior near its forward end with screw threads pointed at one end and designed to engage the screw threads on the first mentioned shank, said screw threads being capable of lying wholly within the recess on one -side of the rear extension when the handle member is at one limit of its movement and of eX- tending partially into the recess on the other side of the rear extension when the handle is at the other llimit of its movement, a washer on the angular extension to engage the rear end of the handle member to limit its rearward movement, and a nut on said screw threaded end of the angular extension to engage said washer arranged and combined substantially in the manner set forth, and for the purposes stated.

Des Moines, Iowa, April 30, 1909.

BERT A. STOCKING.

Witnesses:

W. B. GOLDIZEN. N. M. TAYLOR'.

Bopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

WashingtonL D. C. 

